CBS News in Freefall: Two-Anchor Format Slammed as a “Disaster” While Norah O’Donnell Quietly Reemerges Amid $2 Billion Shakeup
The “60 Minutes”-style strategy backfired within weeks, costing CBS Evening News over 1.2 million viewers. As internal panic spreads over looming layoffs, Norah O’Donnell’s name resurfaces as a silent but strategic wildcard
CBS Evening News is set to experiment with yet another format change after adding another anchor to the mix back in January – a strategy widely panned as a ‘disaster’ at the time.
The new strategy, insiders told Variety, will see one of the anchors more frequently thrust into the field to report on major, breaking events.
The other will stay on-set to oversee the broadcast solo, as Norah O’Donnell, Katie Couric, Dan Rather, and Walter Cronkite did previously.
It could be seen last week when John Dickerson was on the ground in Alaska to report on Donald Trump‘s summit with Vladimir Putin. As he delivered breaking news, Maurice DuBois stayed behind in Manhattan.
Making use of both cohosts in such a way appears to thrust the idea of having two anchors side-by-side to the wayside.
The show has lost more than 1.2million viewers since it strayed from the format.
People familiar with CBS’s news division further told Variety how staffers there are scared of rumored layoffs.
Executives from Skydance signaled earlier this month they intended to continue with Paramount’s plans to cut $2 billion in costs from the company.
CBS Evening News is set to experiment with yet another format change will see one of the anchors more frequently thrust into the field to report on major, breaking events, after switching to two anchors in January. Pictured: Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson
The other will stay on-set to oversee the broadcast solo, as Norah O’Donnell did before she left the show late last year.
Streaming continues to take away from revenue brought by traditional advertising and distribution.
CBS News, however, has found itself in a tougher spot – last-place of the legacy news stations in both primetime and mornings.
Most notably, the gap is growing on the evening front.
O’Donnell, less than a year ago, had reeled in an average of roughly 5million total viewers, as well as 721,000 viewers aged 25 to 54 for her broadcast.
Those numbers were down to 3.744 million total viewers and 516,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted demographic as of August 4, seemingly in response to the dual-anchor experiment.
Aside from doing away with a single host after decades, the strategy saw staffers take a more magazine-style, 60 Minutes-esque approach to the evening’s news.
The vision – masterminded by now-ex-60 Minutes boss Bill Owens and then-CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon – was promptly rejected by viewers within a matter of weeks, according to Nielsen data.
The show debuted with the Dickerson-Dubois pairing on January 27 to 5.2 million total viewers, the data showed.
The strategy could be seen last week when John Dickerson was on the ground in Alaska to report on Donald Trump ‘s summit with Vladimir Putin , while Maurice DuBois stayed behind in-studio.
By its third week, the show was receiving just under 4.5 million total viewers, the data showed.
A former CBS News exec told Daily Mail at the time, ‘It’s a disaster,’ referring to the two anchors and their feature, long-form style
‘It’s been critically panned, ratings down week by week and from this time last year,’ they said, under condition of anonymity.
‘[Executive Producer] Bill Owens is also overstretched and feeling the pressure with this lawsuit from [Trump].’
The suit, centered around a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that aired in October, was settled just last month, after Owens and McMahon has both left the company.
Both had been vocal about their opposition to a settlement, after Trump claimed the sit-down was ‘deceptively edited.’
The suit was seen by many as a sticking point in the merger between Paramount and Skydance, which was approved by the FCC – after more than a year in limbo – last month as well.
Last week, Paramount Studios new CEO, 42-year-old scion David Ellsion, previewed his plans for the new company, which he said will include CBS News.
The vision was masterminded by now-ex-60 Minutes boss Bill Owens and then-CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon, both of whom have since left CBS
Last week, Paramount Studios new CEO, 42-year-old scion David Ellison, previewed his plans for the new company, which he said will include CBS News
‘We’re an entertainment company first, and I genuinely believe if you’re breathing, you’re our audience,’ the son of MAGA billionaire Larry Ellison explained.
‘I don’t want to politicize this company.’
‘We want to be in the business of speaking to everybody,’ he continued, after months of being accused of bribery and playing a part in Paramount’s decision to cancel the show of prominent Trump critic Stephen Colbert.
‘One of our biggest priorities is actually restoring Paramount as the No. 1 destination for the most talented artists and filmmakers in the world.
‘Very simply, great filmmakers make great movies.’
He also talked up CBS’ relationship with the NFL, Masters golf tournament and the NCAA’s March Madness.
His COO Andy Gordon added, ‘I actually think every asset is underappreciated here.’
Ellison also mentioned how the Tiffany Network ended the regular television season in first place in primetime among broadcast networks for the 17th straight year.
‘Legacy media kind of swam out to the middle of the lake, but wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the other side,’ he said of plans to embrace technology to make his vision possible.
Jeff Shell, the new president of what’s being called Paramount Skydance, said any cuts and reductions needed to make that vision a reality will be disclosed by the company’s next quarterly report to investors in November.